I was told I had HPV back in 2018 and got myself so upset with worry I almost made myself ill, back then I think it was relatively new to the programme and people weren’t very well informed (it’s much better now I must add!) and was then put on yearly smears. In 2019, was told HPV was still present and again in 2020 but also showed low grade cell changes! Ffs… I was on the verge of planning my own funeral at this point. Sheer devastation.
I was absolutely inconsolable and the thought of waiting 6 weeks for a colposcopy almost tipped me over the edge - so I went private and was seen with the week by this amazing consultant, he was also a cancer surgeon and specialized in robotics (so I felt he would know his stuff!)
Anyway, I went to the colposcopy (absolutely scared to death) and he did his “thing” and it wasn’t painful at all, just a little uncomfortable. He said he thought it was CIN 1 / 2 - but to be sure he took 3 biopsies and reassured me it WAS NOT cancer (which was music to my ears). The biopsies took a week to come back, and I was still a nervous wreck and was like a cat on hot bricks the day I was getting the results.
Anyway, he rang me up on the day, and told me that the biopsies had actually come back all clear, and there was no abnormalities whatsoever and it was purely just viral - well, I could have cried. The relief was absolutely like nothing I’ve ever known in my life.
He said I could go back to 3 yearly smears, which I actually declined and said I wanted another one next year just to be safe, which he said was absolutely fine.
So girls, I just wanted to add this on as most of the time these things are absolutely nothing to worry and the testing is so detailed that it picks up absolutely everything that is going on down there, and even the best surgeons in the world can sometimes be mistaken :)
So I wish you all the best of luck and make sure you keep going for them smears - as it’ll always be alright on the night xx